


Brave new forsaken world

by Funyariinpa



Series: Slice of light [1]
Category: Super Smash Brothers
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Slight Angst, Post-Apocalypse, Slice of Life, the orange Inkling is called Lila
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:48:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26736889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Funyariinpa/pseuds/Funyariinpa
Summary: Lila remembered standing on a giant cliff alongside her fellow Smashers, facing against a stupid ball of light thing with giant wings, its very presence foreign to everyone there. There was a hoard of clones of Master Hands that descended upon them. A promise of an epic battle that would decide the fate of their world. And then... it was all over.Good thing Ness saved her.
Relationships: Female Inkling(s) (Splatoon)/Ness (Mother 2)
Series: Slice of light [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1946032
Kudos: 3





	Brave new forsaken world

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, so this is going to be a little experiment. It's been a while since I wanted to tackle the idea of writing about life during World of Light and how the Smashers interact with each other in this new, abandoned world. Basically, I just wanted to write shorter stories that focus more on slice of life, at least until I can get my creative juice back.

"Lila? Lila can you hear me? Are you okay?"

Lila, the orange Inkling, groggily opened her eyes, her vision still trying to regain focus. She felt her back lying on solid, hot concrete that became more and more unbearable to lie on the more she regained consciousness. Slowly, but steadily, she sat up and turned her head towards the familiar voice who called for her. Kneeling by her side was Ness, with one hand on her shoulder and a concerned look on his face. What was he doing there? What was she doing there? Where were they? Lila's memory was all but a blur and her head was aching. The intense sun shining down upon her face only made matters worse, bathing her in a painful light that made her want to go back to lying down and curl herself up in a ball. Still, that was not the time to go back to sleep, especially not when the only possible bed was rough concrete.

She then realized that she held her splattershot, her weapon of choice, in one hand and slowly loosened her grip on the weapon. Once Ness realized that her mind was returning to reality, he gently offered his hand to her and helped her get back to her feet. Lila slowly looked around her and realized that they were atop a tall building, though she had no idea which one. If she were to be honest, the view was not all that different from her home world, Inkopolis.

 _"Ness… where… what happened?"_ she asked.

"Take it easy, you're just now returning back to your senses," he said. "Do you… remember anything?"

 _"Uh, no? I don't think, so..."_ she gasped. _"Wait! I think I remember a little!"_

Lila remembered standing on a giant cliff alongside her fellow Smashers, facing against a stupid ball of light thing with giant wings, its very presence foreign to everyone there. There was a hoard of clones of Master Hands that descended upon them. A promise of an epic battle that would decide the fate of their world. Lila herself tightening the grip on her weapon as she tried to decide which Master Hand she would attack first. And then…

Beams of light. Lots of them. She remembered being violently shot by them and then losing consciousness. Lila and the other Smashers lost the battle without it could even start. The world was enveloped by the oppressive light and all life had vanished.

Well, not all life, apparently. Both her and Ness were there, despite her now remembering her own death. Unless…

_"Ness, is this the afterlife? Are we dead?!"_

"No, we're very much alive, but umm… Sorry in advance if you feel any pain from your bruises," Ness apologized. "I swear it wasn't my intention to go overboard! Not that I went overboard, but..."

_"What?"_

"Lila, follow me," he said, gesturing with his hand. "I'll explain everything on the way."

Ness took her hand and jumped off the building with her. Lila, now fearing for her newly regained life, screamed at the top of her lungs, before Ness used his psychic powers to make them gently descend. She calmed down as they approached the ground, only then realizing how eerie it was to have her scream echo through the city without it being muffled by the busy noises of the chaotic city life.

Lila was a very cosmopolitan kind of girl, one could even say that she was the most comfortable when her senses were being overwhelmed by said chaotic noises. To see what was once the lively and hellish Smash City be reduced to a ghost city, it made a chill go down Lila's back.

_"Oh, man, this silence gives me the creeps..."_

The only sound that Lila could hear was the whistle of the harsh winds that flapped her tentacle hair. She couldn't see a single soul walking the streets, which, coupled with the abandoned opened shops, only made her feel even lonelier. A tiny orange spot in a silent gray jungle.

 _"Damn, the world really did end, uh..."_ she whispered.

"Do you need a moment?"

_"Would love to say yes, but we have stuff to do."_

They crossed the large avenue where the building under construction was located and entered the quaint, abandoned shopping mall at the other side of the street. Lila looked around nervously, expecting something to jump out from one of the stores at any moment. Her eyes fell upon the window of one of her favorite clothing stores. The presentation looked impeccable, not a single thing moved out of its place since the last time she visited it. Yet there were no shop attendants working, no customers going in and out of the store. No passerby stopping by the window to check out sales. Everything perfectly still.

She needed to break the silence, that feeling of quiet dread was killing her.

 _"So… what was I doing atop of that building?"_ Lila asked.

"Oh, right, I still have to explain that, don't I?" Ness said, feeling a bit awkward. "Basically, uh… your body was being controlled, so I had to fight you in order to free you."

_"Controlled?"_

"Everyone who got hit by the beams of light has become puppet fighters controlled by it," he explained. "When we fight them, it's like we're cutting the strings controlling them."

Lila was still a little confused, but the pain and soreness in her body was not at all different from the battles she participated in for sport and money. She could feel a shiver run down her spine as she thought about her body being used and played around like a toy.

How disgusting. She didn't want to think about that.

_"Is anyone else free? Are we gonna meet other fighters?"_

"Right now, I'm in a team with Little Mac, Whitney and Will, but we have met with other people before," he said. "They… decided they wanted to take other paths."

_"They had other places to be?"_

"Yeah, sorta," Ness said, his voice not sounding so confident to Lila.

_"Oh, and have you seen any of my crew?"_

"Your crew?"

 _"The other Inklings,"_ she explained. _"Have you seen them?"_

"Hmm… no, I haven't seen any," he said, pausing only to consider his phrasing. "I mean, I haven't found their original bodies, if that makes sense."

_"No, but okay, I'm sure I'll understand later."_

They arrived at the bookstore, where Little Mac, Whitney and Will (the Wii Fit Trainers) were stationed at the back of the store. Lila barely had time to react before she and Ness were locked in a bear hug by a very worried Little Mac. She gasped for air and demanded that he let her go, but she also would be damned if she didn't admit she was happy to see them.

Whitney and Will, in their ever so graceful patience, waited for them to calm their spirits before asking for everyone to sit down in a circle, on the cushions that Whitney had arranged for them. Lila sat right by Ness's side and gave him a pleading look, one that made him already realize what she wanted from him. She whispered something in his ear and then looked away, which made everyone look at them with curiosity.

"Lila's asking how long we're staying here before we get a move on," Ness said.

"Lila, calm down," Whitney chuckled. "You just got here, take a moment to rest."

Ness then translated what Whitney said to her and that only validated Lila's anxieties. Yes, she was very happy to see other people, especially after being ditched by her rescuer, but she felt very awkward being around a group that could not understand her. Lila had been studying the common language ever since she got in the Smash, but she was a rather slow learner... or so she had heard her entire life.

She looked at Ness once again. At the very least he could understand her with his psychic powers. He made her feel a little bit less isolated.

Lila sat with her arms crossing over her skinny legs and listened to the incoherent words that came out of the group's mouths that could be called a discussion. Ness tried his best to translate to her what they were saying in real time, and despite him fumbling in his words every now and then, it was enough for her to understand what they were planning to do once they left the bookstore.

Based on other Smashers's observations, it appeared that the light creature of incomprehensible form was powered by the many spirits that roamed around the world. These spirits, fulled with a desire for belonging and being controlled by the creature, then possessed the many copies of the fallen Smashers that the creature kept replicating, copies that they called "puppet fighters".

They were going to get the city rid of puppet fighters, controlled by the spirits that roamed their now forsaken world. The more puppet fighters they got rid of, the more spirits they could free. The more spirits that they freed, the weaker the creature became. Then maybe...

"Lila, what d'you think?" Little Mac asked. "You in or out?"

_"Uh?"_

"We're going to keep scouting the city for weak spirits and get rid of them first, before tackling stronger ones," Ness translated. "You in?"

_"Well, yeah! It's the only way to weaken that lighty thing in the sky, right?"_

"Okay, so we're all agree on that," he said. "I was thinking, since we're going to be fighting weaker spirits, we should split up into two groups, don't you think?"

"Isn't that risky?" Will asked. "I mean, what if you end up attracting the attention of a stronger spirit and you're outnumbered?"

"Then we run and try again later."

A groan escaped from her, but with the exception of Ness, who turned his attention to her, nobody wanted to to go through the trouble to decipher why she was suddenly so irritated.

"Besides, if we go by that logic, isn't it more risky to walk around as a large group and be spotted by Galeem and be wiped out all at once?"

"Good point."

Galeem. So that was the lighty thing's name. Lila tightened her grip on her legs and she held her breath for a moment. She understood what had to be done to fix the world, but that only made her fears grow. She just came back to life, but who was to say that Galeem wouldn't do it again? And this time, irreversible? All because she was trying to help others. A part of Lila wanted to just tell Ness that they should find a place to hide and live the rest of their very long lives quietly, to not live as martyrs.

Lila didn't even recognize herself with those thoughts. She wasn't some coward, that was not who she was. And what about her missing crew? She would be a terrible leader if she just abandoned on the search for them.

 _"What are we waiting for?"_ she asked. _"Let's go kick some puppet butt!"_

\---------

It was decided that they would split up into two teams, with Little Mac and the Wii Fit Trainers going to face the puppet fighters at the west part of the city and Ness and Lila going to the eastern area. They would spend a couple of days hunting down weak puppet fighters and would regroup at that same book store later.

At first, Lila thought it would be a walk in the park. She knew Console City well enough and already knew exactly how to get to the eastern area. Unfortunately, she forgot that, since the world has ended, there was no such thing as public transport. They would have to go by foot. At first, it wasn't so bad, she was feeling well-rested and the few puppet fighter they found in the way were very easy to defeat with her and Ness working together.

It was only after a couple of hours of walking and fighting puppet fighters that Lila, dragging her throbbing feet and dangling her empty splattershot in her hand, felt she had enough. She stopped on her tracks and asked for Ness to wait up.

 _"When did Console City become this big?"_ she complained. _"How long 'till we get to the eastern area?"_

"We're almost there, but we can rest for a while, if you want."

_"Please!"_

They sat by a nearby bus stop, which only made them realize just how tired their legs were from the constant walking. Ness opened his backpack and offered Lila a bottle of water that became just a tad too warm from being inside the backpack under the strong sun for too long. Despite that, Lila gulped it down with vigor. He then offered her a bag of chips, which she gladly accepted it. She hadn't realized how thirsty and hungry she was until now.

Once satiated, Lila rested her head on Ness's shoulder and basked in the silence of the ghost city. She could feel him tensing up a bit, before relaxing and letting her adjust better. Even with the creeping feeling that she won't be seeing her crew soon, at least she was not alone. She was found by one of the only non-Inkling who had no issues with language barrier, one of the few who made an effort from day one to befriend her and show her around when she was a confused newborn Smasher.

Just like back then, Lila was once again welcomed back into that world by him. In that aspect, she was truly lucky. If she could take anything positive from that horrible situation, she hoped it could be becoming even closer to him. After all, they had a lot of time right now for that. As for Ness, he was just happy to see Lila recovering well from the control Galeem had over her. She certainly had a strong mind and heart, at least when compared to him, who still felt shaken from his own mind control.

He wanted to get as strong as her. No, he needed to be as strong as her. For both their sake and for their world. Before he could even think about what he was doing, Ness rested his hand over hers. And it felt nice, to be this close. It brought him a soothing feeling that he didn't feel ever since he had woken up in this new world. For that brief moment, he wanted their respite to never end.

However, as soon as they closed their eyes, the sound of heels clicking on concrete put them on high alert. Click. Click. Click.

Someone, or something, was approaching them. Lila and Ness jumped from the bus stop seat and turned around.

"Oh, great..." Ness grumbled.

Standing a few feet away from them was a puppet Bayonetta, whose pose showed that she was ready to attack. Lila did not know if this one looked intimidating because she was being controlled by a strong spirit or if it was because the puppet fight in question was Bayonetta herself. From above her head, they could see the faint silhouette of a woman with springs for hair, the spirit that pulled her strings.

Both Lila and Ness exchanged a knowing look and prepared for battle. That was their reality now. There was no running away from it.

"Alright, the sooner we get this done, the sooner we'll reach the eastern area," he said. "You ready?"

_"Let's go, Ness!"_


End file.
